Rear Adm. Charles F. O'Neill, USN

Charles F. O’Neil was born in Manchester, England, March 15, 1842, son of John and Mary Anne (Francis) O’Neil. At the age of five he came to the U. S. with his parents, who settled in Boston, Massachusetts. He went to sea at the age of 16, making a trip to Calcutta on the Oliver Putnam of Newburyport, Massachusetts. On his second voyage on the Oliver Putnam, the vessel foundered in the Indian Ocean and O’Neil and others drifted for five days before being rescued by a French slaver.

O’Neil’s naval career was lengthy and spectacular. At the opening of the Civil War, he enlisted in the United States Navy. He achieved the rare feat of rising from enlisted status in 1861 to flag rank by 1897. He was master’s mate on the U. S. S. Cumberland at the fight at Hatteras inlet and in the battle with the Merrimac in Hampton Roads, when the Cumberland was rammed and sunk. While the crew struggled in the water, O’Neil rescued Lt. Commander Morris, commander of the Cumberland. For his heroism, he was promoted to acting master. As navigator on the gunboat Rhode Island, O’Neil participated in the attacks on Fort Fisher and blockade duty. At war’s end, he held the rank of acting volunteer lieutenant. In 1868, he was appointed lieutenant in the regular Navy. He became commander in 1884, and captain in 1897, and rear admiral in 1901. While serving as first commander of the U.S.S. Marblehead, O’Neil sailed to the Nicaraguan coast in 1894. There he negotiated the sovereignty of Nicaragua to the satisfaction of the U. S. and Great Britain which had served as the country’s protectorate. O’Neil also protected U. S. interests in Turkey in 1892 and 1893.

An expert in naval ordnance, O’Neil became superintendent of the naval gun factory at the Washington naval yard. He played a key role in developing the modern U. S. Navy. In 1897, he was made Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. Following the Spanish-American War, O’Neil designed naval guns of all calibers and as president of the U.S. Navy board of construction prepared plans for the Navy’s new vessels. He later was sent abroad to study the ordnance of departments of foreign navies.

He married April 6, 1869 to Mary Caroline, daughter of Richard Frothingham, historian of Charlestown, Massachusetts. They had one son, Dr. Richard Frothingham O’Neil. Rear Admiral O’Neil died at Chelsea, Massachusetts February 28, 1927.

Dictionary of American Biography